Bath
The Royal Crescent in Bath
Bath shown within Somerset
Population	80,000
OS grid reference	ST745645
- London	99 miles (159 km) W
Unitary authority	Bath and North East Somerset
Ceremonial county	Somerset
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BATH
Postcode district	BA1, BA2
Dialling code	01225
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Avon
Ambulance	Great Western
European Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Bath
List of places: UK • England • Somerset

Coordinates: 51°22′51″N 2°21′37″W / 51.3809, -2.3603

Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England. The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government Bath and North East Somerset (commonly referred to as BANES or B&NES) is a Unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one South West England is one of the Regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The, also known as the Bath postcode area, is a group of postal districts around Bath, Bradford on Avon, Bruton, Castle Cary, The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. Avon & Somerset Constabulary is the Home Office Police force in England responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Somerset and The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and The Avon Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory FRS or Fire and Rescue Service covering the area of what used to be the County of Avon (1974-1996 The Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust (GWAS is UK National Health Service (NHS trust providing emergency and non emergency South West England is a Constituency of the European Parliament. This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election Bath is a Constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a list of cities, Towns Villages and hamlets in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county South West England is one of the Regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It is situated 99 miles (159 km) west of London and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Bristol. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London The population of the city is about 80,000. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology ^[1] It was granted city status by Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1590,^[2] and was made a county borough in 1889 which gave it administrative independence from its county, Somerset. This is a list of cities in the United Kingdom, as of 2008 Cities which have held such status since Time immemorial are indicated with TI in the column headed A Royal Charter is a Charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the Privy council to legitimize an incorporated body such as a city company County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (excluding Scotland) to refer to a Borough or a City Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974 Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county The city became part of Avon when that county was created in 1974. The former County of Avon was a non-metropolitan county and ceremonial county in the west of England, named after the River Avon, which A non-metropolitan county or shire county in England, is a county-level entity which is not a Metropolitan county. Since 1996, when Avon was abolished, Bath has been the principal centre of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), a part of the wider Somerset county. See also Independent city A unitary authority is a type of Local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all Local government functions Bath and North East Somerset (commonly referred to as BANES or B&NES) is a Unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies

The city was founded, among surrounding hills, in the valley of the River Avon around naturally-occurring hot springs where the Romans built baths and a temple,^[3] giving it the name Aquae Sulis. The River Avon is a River in the south west of England. Because of a number of other River Avons in England this river is often also known as the Lower There are several geothermal springs in the UK: Tunbridge Wells, Kent thermal spring Stoney Middleton Thermal Springs Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 For Roman baths in general see Thermae. The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath For the Roman Baths complex at Aquae Sulis see Roman Baths (Bath. Edgar was crowned king of England at Bath Abbey in 973. Edgar I the Peaceful or the Peaceable (c 7 August 943&ndash8 July 975 1 The Abbey Church of Saint Peter Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican Parish church and a former Benedictine Monastery ^[4] Much later, it became popular as a spa resort during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from Bath Stone. The arts Especially during the mid-18th century the period was marked by cultural vibrancy with the establishment of the British Museum in 1753 and the contributions Georgian architecture is the name given in most English -speaking countries to the set of Architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840 Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of Calcium carbonate.

The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, and has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million staying visitors and 3. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex 8 million day visitors to the city each year. ^[5] The city has two universities and several schools and colleges. There is a large service sector and growing information and communication technologies and creative industries, providing employment for the population of Bath and the surrounding area.

History

Celtic and Roman

The Great Bath at the Roman Baths. For Roman baths in general see Thermae. The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath The entire structure above the level of the pillar bases is a later reconstruction.

Main article: Aquae Sulis

Archaeological evidence shows that the site of the Roman Baths' main spring was treated as a shrine by the Celts,^[6] and was dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva; however, the name Sulis continued to be used after the Roman invasion, leading to the town's Roman name of Aquae Sulis (literally, "the waters of Sulis"). For the Roman Baths complex at Aquae Sulis see Roman Baths (Bath. For Roman baths in general see Thermae. The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts In localised Celtic polytheism practiced in Britain Sul or Sulis was the deification of the thermal spring-water of Bath Somerset, where she was worshipped Roman mythology, or more appropriately Latin mythology, refers to the mythological beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its The MInisterial NEtwoRk for Valorising Activities in digitisation, or MINERVA, is a European Union organization concerned with the digitisation of cultural and A partial list of Roman place names in Great Britain. This list includes only names documented from Roman times Messages to her scratched onto metal, known as curse tablets, have been recovered from the Sacred Spring by archaeologists. A curse tablet or binding spell ( defixio in Latin, κατάδεσμος katadesmos in Greek) is a type of Curse found ^[7] These curse tablets were written in Latin, and usually laid curses on people by whom the writer felt they had been wronged. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. For example, if a citizen had his clothes stolen at the baths, he would write a curse, naming the suspects, on a tablet to be read by the Goddess Sulis Minerva.

The temple was constructed in 60–70 AD and the bathing complex was gradually built up over the next 300 years. ^[3] During the Roman occupation of Britain, and possibly on the instructions of Emperor Claudius,^[8] engineers drove oak piles into the mud to provide a stable foundation and surrounded the spring with an irregular stone chamber lined with lead. Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I ( August 1, 10 BC &ndash October 13, AD 54 ( Tiberius Claudius Drusus from birth to Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly In the 2nd century, the spring was enclosed within a wooden barrel-vaulted building,^[6] which housed the calidarium (hot bath), tepidarium (warm bath), and frigidarium (cold bath). A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves in the case A Caldarium (also called a Calidarium, Cella Caldaria or Cella Coctilium) was a room with a hot plunge bath used in a Roman bath complex The tepidarium was the warm ( tepidus) bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a Hypocaust or Underfloor heating system A frigidarium is a large cold pool to drop into after enjoying a hot Roman bath. ^[9] The city was given defensive walls, probably in the 3rd century. ^[10] After the Roman withdrawal in the first decade of the 5th century, the baths fell into disrepair and were eventually lost due to silting up. ^[11]

Post-Roman and Saxon

The Nävelsjö runestone commemorating a Viking who died in Bath. Main article Viking Runestones. The England Runestones is a group of c

Bath may have been the site of the Battle of Mons Badonicus (c. In the Battle of Mons Badonicus ( English Mount Badon, Welsh Mynydd Baddon) Romano-British Celts defeated 500 AD), where King Arthur is said to have defeated the Saxons, although this is disputed. King Arthur is a legendary British leader who according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders The Saxons or Saxon people were a Confederation of Old Germanic tribes. ^[12] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions Bath falling to the West Saxons in 577 after the Battle of Deorham. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of Annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. West Saxon redirects here For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex (disambiguation. The Battle of Deorham was fought in southwestern Britain in 577, between the Saxons of Wessex and the Britons to their west ^[13] The Anglo-Saxons called the town Baðum, Baðan or Baðon, meaning "at the baths," and this was the source of the present name. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south ^[13] In 675, Osric, King of the Hwicce, set up a monastic house at Bath, probably using the walled area as its precinct. Osric was a king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the Hwicce, perhaps reigning jointly with his presumed brother Oshere. The Hwicce (also spelt Hwicca or Wiccia) were one of the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England. ^[14] King Offa of Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter. Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796 Mercia (ˈmɝsiə was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. ^[15] By the 9th century the old Roman street pattern had been lost and Bath had become a royal possession, with King Alfred laying out the town afresh, leaving its south-eastern quadrant as the abbey precinct. Alfred the Great (also Ælfred from the Old English Ælfrēd ˈælfreːd (c ^[16] Edgar of England was crowned king of England in Bath Abbey in 973. Edgar I the Peaceful or the Peaceable (c 7 August 943&ndash8 July 975 1 ^[4]

Norman, Medieval and Tudor

Bath Abbey From The Roman Baths Gallery

King William Rufus granted the city to a royal physician, John of Tours, who became Bishop of Wells and Abbot of Bath in 1088. William II (c 1056 &ndash 2 August 1100) the third son of William I of England (William the Conqueror was King of England from 1087 John of Tours (or John de Villula) (d 1122 was a Norman Bishop of Wells who moved the diocese seat to Bath. Wells is a small Cathedral city and Civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, on the southern edge of the Mendip ^[17][18] It was papal policy for bishops to move to more urban seats, and he translated his own from Wells to Bath. ^[19] He planned and began a much larger church as his cathedral, to which was attached a priory, with the bishop's palace beside it. ^[17] New baths were built around the three springs. However, later bishops returned the episcopal seat to Wells, while retaining the name of Bath in their title as the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.

By the 15th century, Bath's abbey church was badly dilapidated and in need of repairs. ^[20] Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells, decided in 1500 to rebuild it on a smaller scale. Oliver King (c 1432 - 29 August 1503 was a Bishop of Exeter and Bishop of Bath and Wells who restored Bath Abbey after 1500 The new church was completed just a few years before Bath Priory was dissolved in 1539 by Henry VIII. The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the formal process between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of ^[21] The abbey church was allowed to become derelict before being restored as the city's parish church in the Elizabethan period, when the city experienced a revival as a spa. Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as Balneotherapy, Spa towns or Spa resorts offering such treatment or the medication The baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy. For Roman baths in general see Thermae. The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath Bath was granted city status by Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1590. This is a list of cities in the United Kingdom, as of 2008 Cities which have held such status since Time immemorial are indicated with TI in the column headed A Royal Charter is a Charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the Privy council to legitimize an incorporated body such as a city company ^[2]

Early modern

The Circus

During the English Civil War, the Battle of Lansdowne was fought on 5 July 1643 on the northern outskirts of the city. The Circus is a famous example of Georgian architecture in the city of Bath, begun in 1754 and completed in 1768. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The English Civil War battle of Lansdowne (or Lansdown) was fought on July 5, 1643, near Bath. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England. ^[22] Thomas Guidott, who had been a student of chemistry and medicine at Wadham College Oxford, moved to Bath and set up practice in 1668. Thomas Guidott (1638-1706 "doctor of physik" and writer became one of the 17th century's most prolific physical scientists using the latest techniques of the time for analysis Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, He became interested in the curative properties of the waters and he wrote A discourse of Bathe, and the hot waters there. Also, Some Enquiries into the Nature of the water in 1676. This brought the health-giving properties of the hot mineral waters to the attention of the country and soon the aristocracy started to arrive to partake in them. ^[23]

The Royal Crescent from the air: Georgian taste favoured the regularity of Bath's streets and squares and the contrast with adjacent rural nature. The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England.

Several areas of the city underwent development during the Stuart period, and this increased during Georgian times in response to the increasing number of visitors to the spa and resort town who required accommodation. The House of Stuart or Stewart was a Royal house of the Kingdom of Scotland, later also of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of The arts Especially during the mid-18th century the period was marked by cultural vibrancy with the establishment of the British Museum in 1753 and the contributions ^[24] The architects John Wood the elder and his son John Wood the younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical façades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum. John Wood ( 1704 - May 23, 1754, Bath) also named Wood of Bath, was an English Architect. John Wood the Younger ( February 25, 1728, Bath - June 18, 1782, Batheaston) was an English Architect ^[25] Much of the creamy gold Bath stone which was used for construction throughout the city, was obtained from the limestone Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines, which were owned by Ralph Allen (1694–1764). Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of Calcium carbonate. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines ( is a 622 hectare (1537 acre Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI in Bath and North East Somerset Ralph Allen (1693 - June 29, 1764) was baptised at St Columb Major, Cornwall on July 24, 1693. ^[26] Allen, in order to advertise the quality of his quarried limestone, commissioned the elder John Wood to build him a country house on his Prior Park estate between the city and the mines. For the nearby Catholic Independent School adjoining the Prior Park Landscape Garden see Prior Park College; for its prep school see Prior Park Preparatory School ^[26] He was also responsible for improving and expanding the postal service in western England, for which he held the contract for over forty years. ^[26] Though not fond of politics, Allen was a civic-minded man, and served as a member of the Bath Corporation for many years. He was elected Mayor of the city for a single term, in 1742, at age 50. ^[26]

The early 18th century saw Bath acquire its first purpose-built theatre, the Theatre Royal, along with the pump room attached to the Roman Baths and assembly rooms. The Theatre Royal in Bath is over 200 years old It is one of the more important theatres in the UK outside London with capacity for an audience of around 900 The Bath Assembly Rooms, designed by John Wood the Younger in 1769 are a set of elegant Assembly rooms located in the heart of the World Heritage City Master of Ceremonies Beau Nash, who presided over the city's social life from 1705 until his death in 1761, drew up a code of behaviour for public entertainments. Beau Nash ( 18 October 1674 - 3 February 1762) born Richard Nash, was a celebrated Dandy and leader of fashion in 18th-century ^[27]

Late modern

The population of the city had reached 40,020 by the time of the 1801 census, making it one of the largest cities in Britain. ^[28] William Thomas Beckford bought a house in Lansdown Crescent in 1822, eventually buying a further two houses in the crescent to form his residence. William Thomas Beckford ( 1 October 1760 &ndash 2 May 1844) usually known as William Beckford, was an English Novelist Lansdown Crescent is a well-known example of Georgian architecture in Bath, England, designed by John Palmer and constructed by a variety of Having acquired all the land between his home and the top of Lansdown Hill, he created a garden over half a mile in length and built Beckford's Tower at the top. Lansdown is in Bath, England, United Kingdom and is a Suburb of the World Heritage City of Bath Beckford's Tower is an architectural Folly built in neo-classical style and situated on Lansdown Hill, just outside Bath, Somerset, England ^[29]

Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia spent the four years of his exile, from 1936 to 1940, at Fairfield House in Bath. Haile Selassie I ( Ge'ez: am ኃይለ፡ ሥላሴ "Power of the Trinity " 23 July 1892 &ndash 27 August 1975 born Tafari Makonnen, was NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page Fairfield House, in Newbridge Bath, England, was the residence of Emperor Haile Selassie I during the five years he spent in exile (1936–1941 ^[30] During World War II, between the evening of 25 April and the early morning of 27 April 1942, Bath suffered three air raids in reprisal for RAF raids on the German cities of Lübeck and Rostock, part of the Luftwaffe campaign popularly known as the Baedeker Blitz. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. Events 1124 - David I becomes King of Scotland. 1296 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Lübeck ( is the second largest City in Schleswig-Holstein, in Northern Germany, and one of the major Rostock (ˈʁɔstɔk from Polabian Roz toc, literally "to flow apart" is the largest City in the north German state ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. TemplateLocation_map_many/doc -->The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of Vergeltungsangriffe ("retaliatory raids" by the Over 400 people were killed, and more than 19,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. ^[31] Houses in the Royal Crescent, Circus and Paragon were burnt out along with the Assembly Rooms, while the south side of Queen Square was destroyed. The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. The Circus is a famous example of Georgian architecture in the city of Bath, begun in 1754 and completed in 1768. Queen Square is a square of Georgian houses in the city of Bath, England. ^[32] All have since been reconstructed, and regeneration work is continuing. Since 2000, developments have included the Bath Spa, Southgate and the Bath Western Riverside project. Thermae Bath Spa is a modern spa in the city of Bath, England, opened in 2006 ^[33]

Governance

Coat of arms of the City of Bath

Historically part of the county of Somerset, Bath was made a county borough in 1889 and hence independent of the newly created administrative Somerset county council. The historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England. Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (excluding Scotland) to refer to a Borough or a City Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974 A County council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a County. ^[34] Bath became part of Avon when that non-metropolitan county was created in 1974. The former County of Avon was a non-metropolitan county and ceremonial county in the west of England, named after the River Avon, which A non-metropolitan county or shire county in England, is a county-level entity which is not a Metropolitan county. Since the abolition of Avon in 1996, Bath has been the main centre of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES). See also Independent city A unitary authority is a type of Local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all Local government functions Bath and North East Somerset (commonly referred to as BANES or B&NES) is a Unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 ^[35] Bath remains, however, in the ceremonial county of Somerset. The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies

The City of Bath's ceremonial functions, including the mayoralty – which can be traced back to 1230 – and control of the coat of arms, are now maintained by the Charter Trustees of the City of Bath. A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short in European tradition is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people In England and Wales, Charter Trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a Town charter or City charter after a district with the status ^[36] The coat of arms includes two silver strips, which represent the River Avon and the hot springs. The River Avon is a River in the south west of England. Because of a number of other River Avons in England this river is often also known as the Lower The sword of St. Paul is a link to Bath Abbey. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and The Abbey Church of Saint Peter Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican Parish church and a former Benedictine Monastery The supporters, a lion and a bear, stand on a bed of acorns, a link to Bladud, the subject of the Legend of Bath. The lion ( Panthera leo) is a member of the family Felidae and one of four Big cats in the Genus Panthera. The acorn is the nut of the Oak tree (genera Quercus, Lithocarpus and Cyclobalanopsis, in the Bladud or Blaiddyd was a mythical king of the Britons, for whose existence there is little historical evidence The knight's helmet indicates a municipality and the crown is that of King Edgar. A crown is the traditional Symbolic form of Headgear worn by a Monarch or by a Deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents power Edgar I the Peaceful or the Peaceable (c 7 August 943&ndash8 July 975 1 ^[37]

Before the Reform Act 1832 Bath elected two members to the unreformed House of Commons. The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system The unreformed House of Commons is the name generally given to the British House of Commons as it existed before the Reform Act of 1832. ^[38] Bath now has a single parliamentary constituency, with Liberal Democrat Don Foster as Member of Parliament. Bath is a Constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal Political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by merging the A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. His election was a notable result of the 1992 general election, as Chris Patten, the previous Member (and a Cabinet Minister) played a major part, as Chairman of the Conservative Party, in getting the government of John Major re-elected, but failed to defend his marginal seat in Bath. Results |} The turnout was 33514074 from an Electorate of 43275316 voting in a total of 651 seats Christopher Francis Patten Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC (born 12 May 1944 in Cleveleys, Lancashire) is a prominent British Conservative In the Politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is a formal body composed of the most senior government ministers chosen by the Prime Minister In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of the Conservative Party is responsible for running the party machine overseeing Conservative Central Office. Sir John Major KG CH ACIB (born 29 March 1943 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Don Foster has been re-elected as the MP for Bath in every election since. His majority was significantly reduced from over 9,000 in both the 1997 and 2001 general elections to 4,638 in 2005. ^[39]

The electoral wards of the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority within Bath are:

• Abbey, Bathwick, Combe Down, Kingsmead, Lambridge, Lansdown, Lyncombe, Newbridge, Odd Down, Oldfield, Southdown, Twerton, Walcot, Westmoreland, Weston and Widcombe. In Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, a ward is an Electoral district Bath and North East Somerset (commonly referred to as BANES or B&NES) is a Unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 Bathwick is an electoral ward in the City of Bath, England, on the opposite bank of the River Avon to the historic city centre Combe Down ( is a village suburb of Bath in the English county of Somerset, within the Bath and North East Somerset Council area Lansdown is in Bath, England, United Kingdom and is a Suburb of the World Heritage City of Bath Newbridge is an electoral ward within Bath, England. Informally Newbridge refers to the area of Bath that roughly corresponds to the ward boundaries Twerton is a suburb of the city of Bath, Somerset, England, situated to the west of the city and home to the city's football club Bath Walcot is a suburb of the city of Bath, England. It lies to the north-north-east of the city centre and is an electoral ward of the city Weston is a suburb of Bath in England, located in the north west of the city

Geography

Physical geography

Bath is at the bottom of the Avon Valley, and near the southern edge of the Cotswolds, a range of limestone hills designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. See also Cotswold The Cotswolds is a range of Hills in west-central England, sometimes called the "Heart of England" Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB is an area of countryside with significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland The hills that surround and make up the city have a maximum altitude of 780 feet (238 m) on the Lansdown plateau. Lansdown is in Bath, England, United Kingdom and is a Suburb of the World Heritage City of Bath It has an area of 11 square miles (28 km²). ^[40]

Cleveland House and the cast iron bridges of Sydney Gardens over the Kennet and Avon Canal

The surrounding hills give Bath its steep streets and make its buildings appear to climb the slopes. The Kennet and Avon Canal is a Canal in southern England The name may refer to either the route of the original Kennet and Avon Canal Company, which linked the The flood plain of the River Avon, which runs through the centre of the city, here has an altitude of 56 feet (17. ||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||}A floodplain, or flood plain, is flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a Stream or River that experiences occasional or periodic 1 m). The river, once an unnavigable series of braided streams broken up by swamps and ponds, has been managed by weirs into a single channel. Not to be confused with the River Braid Ballymena, Northern Ireland. A swamp is a Wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water A pond is a body of water smaller than a Lake, both being examples of Terrain features Although the term pond is universally used to describe waterbodies that WEIR (1430 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format ^[41] Nevertheless, periodic flooding, which shortened the life of many buildings in the lowest part of the city, was normal until major flood control works in the 1970s. ^[42]

The water which bubbles up from the ground, as geothermal springs, fell as rain on the Mendip Hills. There are several geothermal springs in the UK: Tunbridge Wells, Kent thermal spring Stoney Middleton Thermal Springs The Mendip Hills (commonly called The Mendips) are a range of Limestone hills situated to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset It percolates down through limestone aquifers to a depth of between 2,700 metres (8,858 ft) and 4,300 metres (14,108 ft) metres where geothermal energy raises the water temperature to between 64 °C (147. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit 2 °F) and 96 °C (204. 8 °F). Under pressure, the heated water rises to the surface along fissures and faults in the limestone. This process is similar to an artificial one known as Enhanced Geothermal System which also makes use of the high pressures and temperatures below the Earth's crust. Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Energy (HDR is a type of Geothermal power production that uses the very high temperatures (approx 200 Celsius that can be found in rocks Hot water at a temperature of 46 °C (114. 8 °F) rises here at the rate of 1,170,000 litres (257,364 imp gal) every day,^[43] from a geological fault (the Pennyquick fault). The litre or liter (see spelling differences) is a unit of Volume. Imperial units or the Imperial system is a collection of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824 A gallon is a measure of Volume. It is in current use in the United States and still has limited use in many other English-speaking countries In 1983 a new spa water bore-hole was sunk, providing a clean and safe supply of spa water for drinking in the Pump Room. ^[44] There is no universal definition to distinguish a hot spring from another geothermal spring, though by several definitions, the Bath springs can be considered the only hot springs in the UK. A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated Groundwater from the earth's crust. In Geology, geothermal refers to heat sources within the planet A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated Groundwater from the earth's crust. Three of these springs feed the thermal baths. Thermae Bath Spa is a modern spa in the city of Bath, England, opened in 2006

Climate

Along with the rest of South West England, Bath has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. South West England is one of the Regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50. The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. 0 °F) and shows a seasonal and a diurnal variation, but due to the modifying effect of the sea the range is less than in most other parts of the UK. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 Diurnal motion is an astronomical term referring to the apparent daily motion of Stars around the Earth, or more precisely around the two January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 1 °C (33. 8 °F) and 2 °C (35. 6 °F). July and August are the warmest months in the region with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (69. 8 °F). ^[45]

South West England has a favoured location with respect to the Azores high pressure when it extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer. South West England is one of the Regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to The Azores ( Açores ɐˈsoɾɨʃ or) is a Portuguese Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1500 km (950  mi) from Convective cloud often forms inland however, especially near hills, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Convection in the most general terms refers to the movement of molecules within Fluids (i The average annual sunshine totals between 1,400 and 1,600 hours. ^[45]

Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection. A low pressure area, or " low " is a region where the Atmospheric pressure is lower in relation to the surrounding area The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of the rain which falls in those seasons in the south-west is from this source. Average rainfall is around 31 inches (787 mm)–35 inches (889 mm). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. ^[45]

Demography

Christadelphian Hall, New King Street

The city of Bath has a population of about 80,000. Christadelphians (from the Greek for Brothers of Christ / Christ's Brethren: Christou Adelphoi; cf In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology ^[1] According to the UK Government's 2001 census, Bath, together with North East Somerset, which includes areas around Bath as far as the Chew Valley, has a population of 169,040, with an average age of 39. The politics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland takes place in the framework of a Constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is Head A nationwide Census, commonly known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 29 April 2001 The Chew Valley is an area in North Somerset, England named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon 9 (the national average being 38. 6). Demographics shows according to the same statistics, the district is overwhelmingly populated by people of a white ethnic background at 97. Demographics or demographic data refers to selected population characteristics as used in government Marketing or opinion research or the Demographic profiles 2% – significantly higher than the national average of 90. 9%. Other ethnic groups in the district, in order of population size, are multiracial at 1%, Asian at 0. The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from different races. 5% and black at 0. 5% (the national averages are 1. 3%, 4. 6% and 2. 1%, respectively). ^[46]

The district is largely Christian at 71%, with no other religion reaching more than 0. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth 5%. These figures generally compare with the national averages, though the non-religious, at 19. Irreligion is a lack of religion indifference to religion or hostility to religion 5%, are significantly more prevalent than the national 14. 8%. 7. 4% of the population describe themselves as "not healthy" in the last 12 months, compared with a national average of 9. 2%; nationally 18. 2% of people describe themselves as having a long-term illness, in Bath it is 15. 8%. ^[46]

Culture

The 18th-century Pulteney Bridge by Robert Adam

Bath became the leading centre of fashionable life in England during the 18th century. Pulteney Bridge is a Bridge that crosses the River Avon, in Bath, England and completed in 1773. Robert Adam ( 3 July 1728 &ndash 3 March 1792) was a Scottish neoclassical Architect, Interior designer It was during this time that Bath's Theatre Royal was built, as well as architectural developments such as Lansdown Crescent,^[47] the Royal Crescent,^[48] The Circus and Pulteney Bridge. The Theatre Royal in Bath is over 200 years old It is one of the more important theatres in the UK outside London with capacity for an audience of around 900 The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Lansdown Crescent is a well-known example of Georgian architecture in Bath, England, designed by John Palmer and constructed by a variety of The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. The Circus is a famous example of Georgian architecture in the city of Bath, begun in 1754 and completed in 1768. Pulteney Bridge is a Bridge that crosses the River Avon, in Bath, England and completed in 1773. ^[49]

Today, Bath has five theatres – Bath Theatre Royal, Ustinov Studio, the egg, the Rondo Theatre, and the Mission Theatre – and attracts internationally renowned companies and directors, including an annual season by Sir Peter Hall. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one The Theatre Royal in Bath is over 200 years old It is one of the more important theatres in the UK outside London with capacity for an audience of around 900 The Ustinov Studio is a Theatre in Bath. It is the Theatre Royal's second space built in 1997 at the rear of the building on Monmouth Street the egg is a Theatre in Bath, built specifically for the use of young people The Rondo Theatre, in Bath, was established in 1989 through the generosity of Doreen and Wilf Williams who bought the former church hall from St The Mission Theatre is a Theatre in Bath, England In 2004 the Next Stage Theatre Company took possession of a grade II Listed building originally The city also has a long-standing musical tradition; Bath Abbey is home to the Klais Organ and is the largest concert venue in the city,^[50] with about 20 concerts and 26 organ recitals each year. The Abbey Church of Saint Peter Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican Parish church and a former Benedictine Monastery Klais redirects here For the Violet-headed Hummingbird see Klais (bird. Another important concert venue is the Forum, a 1,700-seat art deco building which originated as a cinema. Art Deco was a popular international design movement from 1925 until 1939 affecting the decorative arts such as Architecture, Interior design, and Industrial The city holds the Bath International Music Festival and Mozartfest every year. The Bath International Music Festival is England 's largest international Music festival. Other festivals include the annual Bath Film Festival, Bath Literature Festival, the Bath Fringe Festival and the Bath Beer Festival, and the Bach Festivals which occur at two and a half year intervals. Bath Film Festival was established in 1991 in Bath, England, by members of the Bath Film Society The Bath Literature Festival held annually in Bath Somerset has become an important date in the national literary calendar playing host to an array of Journalists The Bath fringe festival is an annual art festival held in Bath, England. Bath Beer Festival is an annual Beer festival held in the city of Bath, England.

The city is home to the Victoria Art Gallery,^[51] the Museum of East Asian Art, and Holburne Museum of Art,^[52] numerous commercial art galleries and antique shops, as well as numerous museums, among them Bath Postal Museum, the Fashion Museum (which was previously known as the Museum of Costume), the Jane Austen Centre, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy and the Roman Baths. The Victoria Art Gallery is free public facility in Bath, Somerset, England. The Museum of East Asian Art is in Bennett Street Bath, Somerset, England. The Holburne Museum of Art (also known as the Holburne of Menstrie Museum is in Sydney Pleasure Gardens Bath, Somerset, England. The Bath Postal Museum is in Bath, Somerset. The museum was founded in 1979 by Audrey and Harold Swindells in the basement of their house The Jane Austen Centre at 40 Gay Street in Bath Somerset is a permanent exhibition which tells the story of Jane Austen 's Bath experience – the effect that living The Herschel Museum of Astronomy (also known as the William Herschel Museum) is a small independent Museum dedicated to the life and works of the famous Astronomer For Roman baths in general see Thermae. The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath ^[53] The Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, now in Queen Square, and founded in 1824 on the base of a 1777 Society for the encouragement of Agriculture, Planting, Manufactures, Commerce and the Fine Arts, has an important collection and holds a rich and popular programme of talks and discussions.

Bath in the arts

During the 18th century Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Thomas Lawrence lived and worked in Bath. Thomas Gainsborough (christened 14 May 1727 &ndash died 2 August 1788 was one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of 18th century Britain. Sir Thomas Lawrence RA ( April 13, 1769 &ndash January 7, 1830) was a notable English painter, mostly of portraits ^[54][55] William Friese-Greene began experimenting with celluloid and motion pictures in his studio in Bath in the 1870s, developing some of the earliest movie camera technology there. William Friese-Greene ( September 7, 1855 &ndash May 5, 1921) (born William Edward Green) was a portrait Photographer and He is credited as the inventor of cinematography. ^[56]

Jane Austen lived in the city from 1801 with her father, mother and sister Cassandra, and the family resided in the city at four successive addresses until 1806. Jane Austen (16 ^[57] However, Jane Austen never liked the city, and wrote to her sister Cassandra, "It will be two years tomorrow since we left Bath for Clifton, with what happy feelings of escape. "^[58] Despite these feelings, Bath has honoured her name with the Jane Austen Centre and a city walk. The Jane Austen Centre at 40 Gay Street in Bath Somerset is a permanent exhibition which tells the story of Jane Austen 's Bath experience – the effect that living Austen's later Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are largely set in the city and feature descriptions of taking the waters, social life, and music recitals. For films named Northanger Abbey see Northanger Abbey (1986 film or Northanger Abbey (2007 TV drama. Persuasion is a form of Social influence. It is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea attitude or action by rational and symbolic (though not always Taking the waters is also described in Charles Dickens' novel Pickwick Papers in which Pickwick's servant, Sam Weller, comments that the water has "a very strong flavour o' warm flat irons", while the Royal Crescent is the venue for a chase between two of the characters, Dowler and Winkle. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known as The Pickwick Papers, is the first novel by Charles Dickens. Sam Weller is a Fictional character in The Pickwick Papers, the first novel by Charles Dickens, and is allegedly the character that made Dickens The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. ^[59] Moyra Caldecott's novel The Waters of Sul is set in Roman Bath in 72 AD. Moyra Caldecott ( June 1, 1927) is a British author of historical fiction fantasy science fiction and non-fiction Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals takes place in the city,^[60] as does Roald Dahl's chilling short-story, The Landlady. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (30 October 1751 &ndash 7 July 1816 was an Irish playwright and Whig Statesman. The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a Comedy of manners in five acts Roald Dahl ( 13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British Novelist Short story Writer The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such The Landlady is a short story by Roald Dahl. Plot summary The story focuses on a 17-year old boy named Billy Weaver who has just stepped into ^[61]

Many films and television programmes have been filmed in Bath including: the 2004 film of Thackeray's Vanity Fair, The Duchess (2008), The Elusive Pimpernel (1950) and The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953). William Makepeace Thackeray 's novel Vanity Fair ( 1847 - 1848) has been the subject of numerous television and film adaptations William Makepeace Thackeray (ˈθækərɪ 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863 was an English Novelist of the 19th century Vanity Fair A Novel without a Hero is a Novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1847-48 that satirizes society in early The Duchess is a film based on Amanda Foreman 's best-selling biography of the scandalous 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish Duchess of The Elusive Pimpernel ( is a period Adventure film by the British -based director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 Comedy film about a group of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield Branch ^[62]

In August 2003 the Three Tenors sang at a special concert to mark the opening of the Thermae Bath Spa, a new hot water spa in Bath City Centre; delays to the project meant the spa actually opened three years later on August 7, 2006. The Three Tenors is a name given to a consort of singers who held concerts under this banner during the 1990s and early 2000s Spaniards Plácido Domingo Thermae Bath Spa is a modern spa in the city of Bath, England, opened in 2006 This page is on buildings used for Roman bathing For the activity in general see Ancient Roman bathing. Events 322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Parks

Parade Gardens in July after a rain shower

The city has several public parks, the main one being Royal Victoria Park, which is a short walk from the centre of the city. A park is a protected area of Land and Water, usually in its natural or semi-natural (landscaped state and set aside for some purpose often to do with human Royal Victoria Park is situated in Bath (BA1 England. It was opened in 1830 by the then 11 year old Princess Victoria, it was the first park to carry It was opened in 1830 by an 11-year-old Princess Victoria, and was the first park to carry her name. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ^[63] The park is overlooked by the Royal Crescent and consists of 57 acres (23 ha) with a variety of attractions. The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. ^[64] These include a skateboard ramp, tennis courts, bowling, a putting green and a 12- and 18-hole golf course, a pond, open air concerts, and a popular children's play area. Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) Bowling is a Game / Sport in which players attempt to score points by rolling a Bowling ball along a flat surface either into objects called pins Much of its area is lawn; a notable feature is the way in which a ha-ha segregates it from the Royal Crescent, while giving the impression to a viewer from the Crescent of a greensward uninterrupted across the Park down to Royal Avenue. A lawn is an area of recreational or amenity land planted with grass, and sometimes Clover and other plants which are maintained at a low even height The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. It has received a "Green Flag award", the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales, and is registered by English Heritage as a Park of National Historic Importance. The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales English Heritage is a Non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government ( Department for Culture Media and Sport) with a broad remit of A National Historical Park, National Historic Park, and National Historic Site are designations for Protected areas of national ^[65] The and a 9 acres (4 ha) botanical garden were formed in 1887 and contain one of the finest collections of plants on limestone in the West country. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region The replica of a Roman Temple was used at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924. The British Empire Exhibition was a Colonial exhibition held at Wembley, Middlesex in 1924 and 1925 Wembley is an area located in North-West London, England which forms the northern part of the London Borough of Brent. ^[66] In 1987 the gardens were extended to include the Great Dell, a disused quarry that was formally part of the park, which contains a large collection of conifers.

Other parks in Bath include: Alexandra Park, which crowns a hill and overlooks the city; Parade Gardens, along the river front near the Abbey in the centre of the city; Sydney Gardens, known as a pleasure-garden in the 18th century; Henrietta Park; Hedgemead Park; and Alice Park. Jane Austen wrote of Sydney Gardens that "It would be pleasant to be near the Sydney Gardens. We could go into the Labyrinth every day. "^[67] Alexandra, Alice and Henrietta parks were built into the growing city among the housing developments. ^[68] There is also a linear park following the old Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway line. The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway – almost always referred to as "the S&D" – was an English railway line connecting Bath in north east Somerset and

Food

Sally Lunn's, home of the Sally Lunn Bun

Bath is linked to a variety of foods that are distinctive in their association with the city. Sally Lunn Buns (a type of teacake) have long been baked in Bath. This article is about a type of Cake. Tea cake can also be used to describe Compressed tea. They were first mentioned by that name in verses printed in a local newspaper, the Bath Chronicle, in 1772. The Bath Chronicle is a weekly newspaper published since 1760 in Bath, England. ^[69] At that time they were eaten hot at public breakfasts in the city's Spring Gardens. They can be eaten with sweet or savoury toppings. These are sometimes confused with the Bath Bun which are smaller, round, very sweet, very rich buns that were associated with the city following The Great Exhibition. The Bath bun is a rich sweet Yeast dough shaped round that has a lump of sugar baked in the bottom and more crushed sugar sprinkled on top after baking The Great Exhibition, also known as Crystal Palace, was an international exhibition that was held in Hyde Park, London, England, from 1 Bath Buns were originally topped with crushed comfits created by dipping caraway seeds repeatedly in boiling sugar; but today seeds are added to a 'London Bath Bun' (a reference to the bun's promotion and sale at the Great Exhibition). Comfits (also known as torpedos due to their shape are Spices dried Fruits or nuts coated with Sugar candy often passed round during Caraway or Persian cumin ( Carum carvi) is a Biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to Europe and western Asia ^[70] The seeds may be replaced by crushed sugar granules or 'nibs'.

Bath has also lent its name to one other distinctive recipe – Bath Olivers – the dry baked biscuit invented by Dr William Oliver, physician to the Mineral Water Hospital in 1740. The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases NHS Trust is a small specialist Trust in the centre of Bath. ^[71] Oliver was an early anti-obesity campaigner and the author of a "Practical Essay on the Use and Abuse of warm Bathing in Gluty Cases". ^[71] In more recent years, Oliver's efforts have been traduced by the introduction of a version of the biscuit with a plain chocolate coating. The Bath Chap, which is the salted and smoked cheek and jawbones of the pig, takes its name from the city. ^[72] It is still available from a stall in the daily covered market. Although there is a brewery named Bath Ales, located a few miles away in Warmley, Abbey Ales are brewed in the city. Bath Ales is a Brewery located in the town of Warmley, Bristol, just west of Bath, England. Warmley is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, to the east of Kingswood on the outskirts of Bristol. Abbey Ales is an English brewery located in city of Bath, England. ^[73]

Sport

Bath Rugby is a rugby union team which is currently in the Guinness Premiership league and coached by Steve Meehan. Bath Rugby (also known as just Bath) is an English professional Rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short The English Premiership (known as the Guinness Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Guinness) is a professional league competition for Rugby ^[74] It plays in black, blue and white kit at the Recreation Ground in the city, where it has been since the late 19th century, following its establishment in 1865. The Recreation Ground ("the Rec" is a large open space in the centre of Bath, next to the River Avon, used for recreational purposes by Bath residents and ^[75] The team's first major honour was winning the John Player Cup four years consecutively from 1984 until 1987. The EDF Energy Cup (also known as the Anglo-Welsh Cup) is an English and Welsh Rugby union knock-out cup competition featuring the ^[75] The team then led the Courage league for six consecutive seasons, from 1988/1989 until 1995/1996, during which time it also won the Pilkington Cup in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996. The English Premiership (known as the Guinness Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Guinness) is a professional league competition for Rugby The EDF Energy Cup (also known as the Anglo-Welsh Cup) is an English and Welsh Rugby union knock-out cup competition featuring the ^[75] It finally won the Heineken Cup in the 1997/1998 season, and topped the Zürich Premiership (now Guinness Premiership) in 2003–2004. The European Rugby Cup (known as the Heineken Cup because of the tournament's sponsorship by Heineken) is an annual Rugby union competition involving leading ^[75] The team's current squad includes several members who also play in the English national team including: Steve Borthwick, Lee Mears, Matt Stevens, Olly Barkley, David Flatman and Danny Grewcock. In military terminology a squad is a small Military unit led by a Non-commissioned officer (NCO that is subordinate to an Infantry The England national rugby union team represents England in Rugby union. Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979 in Carlisle) is an English Rugby union footballer who plays lock for Lee Mears (born 5 March 1979 in Torquay) is an English Rugby union footballer who plays hooker for Bath Matthew Stevens (born 1 October 1982 in Durban, South Africa) is a Rugby union player who plays at for Bath and Oliver John Barkley (born 28 November 1981 in Hammersmith) is an English Rugby union player who plays at fly-half David Luke Flatman or 'Flats' (born on 20 January, 1980 in Maidstone) is a prop for the England national rugby union team. Daniel Jonathan Grewcock MBE (born November 7, 1972) is an English Rugby union footballer Colston's Collegiate School, Bristol has had a large input in the team over the past decade, providing several current 1st XV squad members. Colston's School (formerly known as Colston's Collegiate School) is an independent co-educational school in Bristol Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London The former England Rugby Team Manager Andy Robinson used to play for Bath Rugby team and was captain and later coach. Andy Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964 in Taunton, Somerset) is a former English Rugby union footballer who played openside flanker Both of Robinson's predecessors, Clive Woodward and Jack Rowell, were also former Bath coaches and managers as well as his successor Brian Ashton. Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956 at Ely in Cambridgeshire) is a former English Rugby union international who Jack Rowell OBE (born 1937) is the Director of Rugby union at Bath. William Brian Ashton MBE (born 3 September 1946 in Leigh, Lancashire) is a former Rugby union player and the former

Bath City F.C. and Team Bath F.C. (affiliated with the University of Bath) are the major football teams. Bath City FC are a football club based in Bath, Somerset, currently playing in the Conference South. Team Bath is a football club affiliated with the University of Bath in the city of Bath, Somerset, England. The University of Bath is a Campus university located in Bath, England. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Both teams play in the Conference South - in 2007, Bath City became champions of the Southern Football League, and were promoted,^[76] whilst Team Bath were promoted the following year after winning the Southern League Premier Division playoffs. Conference South (currently billed as Blue Square South for sponsorship reasons is one of the second divisions of the Football Conference in England, taking The 2007-08 season was the 104th in the history of the Southern League. In 2002, Team Bath became the first university team to enter the FA Cup in 120 years, and advanced through four qualifying rounds to the first round proper. The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after ^[77] The university's team was established in 1999, while the city team has existed since before 1908 (when it entered the Western League). List of current clubs Premier Division Barnstaple Town | Bideford | Bishop Sutton | Bitton | ^[76] Bath City F.C. play their games at Twerton Park. Bath City FC are a football club based in Bath, Somerset, currently playing in the Conference South. Twerton Park is a multi-use Stadium in the Twerton suburb of Bath, England.

Cricket is played at the Bath Cricket Club at the North Parade Ground. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Bath Cricket Club is an English amateur Cricket club based in the city of Bath, Somerset. Cricket can also be played on the Recreation Ground, just across from where the Rugby is played. The Rec's cricket ground is the venue for the annual Bath Cricket Festival which sees Somerset County Cricket Club play several games. Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic Cricket structure representing the historic county The Recreation Ground is also home to Bath Croquet Club, which was re-formed in 1976 and is affiliated with the South West Federation of Croquet Clubs. Croquet is a Game played both as a recreational Pastime and as a competitive Sport which involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through ^[78]

The Bath Half Marathon is run annually through the city streets, with over 10,000 runners. The Bath Half Marathon is an annual Road running Half marathon held in Bath, England. ^[79] Bath also has a thriving cycling community, with places for biking including Royal Victoria Park, 'The Tumps' in Odd Down/east, the jumps on top of Lansdown, and Prior Park. Cycling is the use of Bicycles or - less commonly - Unicycles Tricycles Quadricycles and other similar wheeled Human powered vehicles Royal Victoria Park is situated in Bath (BA1 England. It was opened in 1830 by the then 11 year old Princess Victoria, it was the first park to carry Lansdown is in Bath, England, United Kingdom and is a Suburb of the World Heritage City of Bath Places for biking near Bath include Brown's Folly in Batheaston and Box Woods, in Box. Brown's Folly ( is a 399 Hectare Biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI near the village of Bathford in Bath and North Batheaston is a village two miles east of Bath, England (which is believed to be where the name derived from on the north bank of the River Avon. Box is a Village located in Wiltshire, England, about 8 km (5 miles east of Bath and 11 km (7 miles west of Chippenham. Bath is also the home of the Bath American Football Club, which has been playing American Football in the city since 2001. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with ^[80]

TeamBath is the umbrella name for all of the University of Bath sports teams, including the aforementioned football club. TeamBath is home to the family of sports based at the University of Bath, and is host The University of Bath is a Campus university located in Bath, England. Other sports for which TeamBath is noted are athletics, badminton, basketball, bob skeleton, bobsleigh, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, netball, rugby union, swimming, tennis, triathlon and volleyball. Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles or two opposing pairs (doubles who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m Skeleton is a Winter sport in which competitors aim to drive a one-person Sled in a prone head-first position down an ice track in the fastest time Bobsleigh, bobsled or bobsledge is a Winter sport invented by Englishmen in the late 1860s in which teams make timed runs down narrow twisting banked Field hockey is a Team sport in which players attempt to score goals by hitting the Ball across the pitch with a stick meaning "gentle way" is a modern Japanese martial art ( Gendai budō) and Combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late The modern pentathlon is a Sports contest that includes five events derived from the Greek root of pente, meaning five Netball is a non-contact team Sport similar to and derived from Basketball. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through Water, usually without artificial assistance Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) A triathlon is an endurance sports event consisting of Swimming, cycling and Running over various distances Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of 6 active players (5 normal players and one 'libero' are separated by a net that is usually four feet The City of Bath Triathlon takes place annually at the university.

Industry

Today, Bath's once-important manufacturing sector is much diminished, but it has notable software, publishing and service-oriented industries, in addition to tourism. Important economic sectors in Bath include education and health (30,000 jobs), retail, tourism and leisure (14,000 jobs) and business and professional services (10,000 jobs). ^[5] Its main employers are the National Health Service, the two universities and the Bath and North East Somerset Council, as well as the Ministry of Defence, although a number of MOD offices formerly in Bath have now moved to Bristol. The National Health Service is the name commonly used to refer to the four Publicly-funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom collectively or individually (although The Ministry of Defence ( MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London ^[81] Growing employment sectors include information and communication technologies and creative and cultural industries where Bath is one of the recognised national centres for publishing,^[5] with the magazine publisher Future Publishing employing around 650 people. Future plc ( is an international special-interest media company jointly based in Bath and London Others include Helphire Group plc, an accident management company specialising in non-fault motor accidents (800 jobs), and Buro Happold (400). Buro Happold is a professional services firm providing Engineering consultancy Design, planning project management and consulting services for all aspects of ^[82] The city contains over 400 retail shops, 50% being run by independent specialist retailers, and around 100 restaurants and cafes which are primarily supported by tourism. ^[5]

Tourism

See also: List of places of interest in Bath, Somerset

Bath is popular with tourists in the summer. This is a list of places of interest in Bath Somerset See also List of visitor attractions in Somerset The entertainer is performing in front of Bath Abbey; the Roman Baths are to the right. The Abbey Church of Saint Peter Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican Parish church and a former Benedictine Monastery For Roman baths in general see Thermae. The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath

Bath's principal industry is tourism, with more than one million staying visitors and 3. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel 8 million day visitors to the city on an annual basis. ^[5] The visits mainly fall into the categories of heritage tourism and cultural tourism. Cultural heritage tourism (or just heritage tourism) is a branch of Tourism oriented towards the Cultural heritage of the location where tourism is occurring ' Cultural tourism' (or culture tourism) is the subset of Tourism concerned with a country or region's Culture, especially its Arts. All significant stages of the history of England are represented within the city, from the Roman Baths (including their significant Celtic presence), to Bath Abbey and the Royal Crescent, to Thermae Bath Spa in the 2000s. The history of England is similar to the history of Britain until the arrival of the Saxons For Roman baths in general see Thermae. The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts The Abbey Church of Saint Peter Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican Parish church and a former Benedictine Monastery The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. Thermae Bath Spa is a modern spa in the city of Bath, England, opened in 2006 The size of the tourist industry is reflected in the almost 300 places of accommodation – including over 80 hotels, and over 180 bed and breakfasts – many of which are located in Georgian buildings. A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging usually on a short-term basis Bed and breakfast, also known as B&B, is a term originating in the United Kingdom, but now also used all over the world for an establishment that offers accommodation Georgian architecture is the name given in most English -speaking countries to the set of Architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840 Two of the hotels have 'five-star' ratings. ^[83] There are also two campsites located on the western edge of the city. The city also contains about 100 restaurants, and a similar number of public houses and bars. A bar (also called a Pub or Tavern) is a business that serves drinks especially Alcoholic beverages such as beer liquor and mixed drinks for consumption Several companies offer open-top bus tours around the city, as well as tours on foot and on the river. An open top bus is a Bus, usually but not exclusively a Double decker bus, where all or part of the roof has been removed to enable enjoyment of fresh air and uninterrupted Since 2006, with the opening of Thermae Bath Spa, the city has attempted to recapture its historical position as the only town in the United Kingdom offering visitors the opportunity to bathe in naturally-heated spring waters. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

Twinned towns

Bath has four twinned towns:^[84]

• Aix-en-Provence, France
• Alkmaar, Netherlands
• Braunschweig, Germany
• Kaposvár, Hungary
• Beppu, Ōita Prefecture, Japan

Bath also has a partnership agreement with Beppu, Japan and is a sister city to Manly, New South Wales, Australia. Aix (ɛks or Aix-en-Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Ais de Provença in classical norm or Ais de Prouvènço in Mistralian norm to distinguish This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. For the place with the same name in Commewijne District of Suriname, see Alkmaar (Suriname. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Braunschweig, known as Brunswiek in Low German, is a city of 245810 people (as of 31 December 2007 located in Lower Saxony, Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Kaposvár ( Croatian: Kapošvar Kapuš(ar Kapušvar, German: Kopisch Ruppertsberg Ruppertsburg, Turkish: Kapoşvar Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic is a city located in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, Japan. WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. is a city located in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, Japan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Manly is a Suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. ^[84]

Transport

Bath is approximately 15 miles (24 km) south-east of the larger city and port of Bristol, to which it is linked by the A4 road, and is a similar distance south of the M4 motorway. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London The M4 motorway is a Motorway in Great Britain linking London with Wales. In an attempt to reduce the level of car use Park and Ride schemes have been introduced, with sites at Odd Down, Lansdown and Newbridge, with a Saturdays-only site at the University of Bath. Park and ride (or incentive parking) facilities are Public transport stations that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into In addition a Bus Gate scheme in Northgate aims to reduce private car use in the city centre. ^[85] National Express operates coach services from Bath to a number of cities. National Express Group plc ( is a UK -based Transport group with headquarters in London that operates Bus, coach, rail In British English and Australian English, the term coach is used to refer to a large motor vehicle for conveying passengers Internally, Bath has a network of bus routes run by First Group, with services to surrounding towns and cities. FirstGroup plc ( is a Scottish Transport company operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Canada, USA There is one other company running open top double-decker bus tours around the city.

The city is connected to Bristol and the sea by the River Avon, navigable via locks by small boats. The River Avon is a River in the south west of England. Because of a number of other River Avons in England this river is often also known as the Lower A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal Waterways. The river was connected to the River Thames and London by the Kennet and Avon Canal in 1810 via Bath Locks; this waterway – closed for many years, but restored in the last years of the 20th century – is now popular with narrow boat users. The Thames ( is a major River flowing through southern England. The Kennet and Avon Canal is a Canal in southern England The name may refer to either the route of the original Kennet and Avon Canal Company, which linked the Bath Locks ( are a series of locks situated on the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Bath, England. A narrowboat or narrow boat is a Boat of a distinctive design made to fit the narrow Canals of England and Wales. ^[86] Bath is on National Cycle Route 4, with one of Britain's first cycleways, the Bristol & Bath Railway Path, to the west, and an eastern route toward London on the canal towpath. Segregated cycle facilities are Roads tracks paths or marked lanes designated for use by Cyclists from which motorised traffic is generally excluded The Bristol & Bath Railway Path is a 13-mile off-road Cycleway that forms part of National Cycle Network National Cycle Route 4. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Although Bath does not have an airport, the city is about 18 miles (29 km) from Bristol International Airport. Bristol International Airport is the commercial Airport serving the city of Bristol, England and the surrounding area

Bath is served by the Bath Spa railway station (designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel), which has regular connections to London Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central, Swansea, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance (see Great Western Main Line), and also Westbury, Warminster, Salisbury, Southampton, Portsmouth and Brighton (see Wessex Main Line). Bath Spa railway station is the principal Railway station in the city of Bath, in South West England. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (9 April 1806 &ndash 15 September 1859 (ˈɪzəmbɑrd ˈkɪŋdəm brʊˈnɛl was a British Engineer. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. London Paddington station, also known as London Paddington, or just simply Paddington, is a major National Rail and London Underground station Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London Bristol Temple Meads railway station is the oldest and largest Railway station in Bristol, England Swansea ( Abertawe "mouth of the Tawe " is a city and county in Wales. Exeter ( (IPA ˈeksɪtər is a city, district and County town of Devon, England. Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. Penzance (Pensans also Penzans, IPA: /pɛnˈzæns/ is a town Civil parish, and Port in the Penwith district of Cornwall The Great Western Main Line is a main line Railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington station to Temple Meads Westbury is a Town and Civil parish (population 11135 in the 2001 census in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. Salisbury (ˈsɒlzbri ˈsɔːlzbri ('Solzbry' or ˈzɔːwzbri ('Zawzbry' — moving from RP to local dialect) is a cathedral city in the Southampton ( IPA /ˌsaʊθˈhæmptən/ is the largest city in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which Brighton ( is a town on the south coast of England and with its neighbour Hove, forms the city of Brighton and Hove. The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton. Services are provided by First Great Western. First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup, which operates There is a suburban station on the main line, Oldfield Park, which has a limited commuter service to Bristol as well as other destinations. Oldfield Park railway station is a suburban Railway station in the city of Bath in BANES, England. Green Park station was once operated by the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, whose line (always steam driven) climbed over the Mendips and served many towns and villages on its 71-mile (114 km) run to Bournemouth; this example of an English rural line was closed by Beeching in March 1966, with few remaining signs of its existence, but its Bath station building survives and now houses a number of shops. Green Park railway station is a former railway station in Bath, Somerset, England. The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway – almost always referred to as "the S&D" – was an English railway line connecting Bath in north east Somerset and The Mendip Hills (commonly called The Mendips) are a range of Limestone hills situated to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset Bournemouth ( is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. The Beeching Axe is an informal name for the British Government 's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system

Architecture

City of Bath*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iv
Reference	428
Region†	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1987  (11th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

There are many Roman archaeological sites throughout the central area of the city, but most of them are around 15 feet (4. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex As of 2008 there are a total of 878 World Heritage Sites located in 145 "State Parties" The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. Asia Minor, Cyprus, all of the Aegean Islands, the Canaries A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos 6 m) below the present city street level. Around the hot springs, Roman foundations, pillar bases, and baths can still be seen, however all the stonework above the level of the baths is from more recent periods. The craft of stonemasonry has existed since the dawn of Civilization - creating Buildings structures and Sculpture using stone from the earth ^[87]

Bath Abbey was a Norman church built on earlier foundations, although the present building dates from the early 16th century and shows a late Perpendicular style with flying buttresses and crocketed pinnacles decorating a crenellated and pierced parapet. The Abbey Church of Saint Peter Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican Parish church and a former Benedictine Monastery For other buildings in Normandy see Architecture of Normandy. English Gothic is the name of the Architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520 A flying buttress, or arc-boutant, is a specific type of Buttress usually found on a religious building such as a Cathedral. A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. A pinnacle (from Latin pinnaculum, a little feather pinna compare Panache) is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap Crenellation (or crenelation, also known as castellation) is the name for the distinctive pattern that frames the tops of the walls of many medieval Castles A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a Roof or structure. ^[88] The choir and transepts have a fan vault by Robert and William Vertue. A fan vault is a form of vault used in the Perpendicular Gothic style in which the ribs are all of the same curve and spaced equidistantly in a manner resembling Robert Vertue (d 1506 was a British architect and master mason William Vertue (died 1527 was a British architect specialising in Fan vault ceilings ^[89] The nave was given a matching vault in the 19th century. ^[90] The building is lit by 52 windows. ^[91]

Most buildings in Bath are made from the local, golden-coloured Bath Stone, and many date from the 18th and 19th century. Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of Calcium carbonate. The dominant style of architecture in Bath is Georgian;^[92] this evolved from the Palladian revival style which became popular in the early 18th century. Georgian architecture is the name given in most English -speaking countries to the set of Architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840 PLEASE DO NOT ADD AN INFO BOX TO THIS PAGE --> Palladian architecture is a European style of Architecture derived from the designs of the Italian Many of the prominent architects of the day were employed in the development of the city. The original purpose of much of Bath's architecture is concealed by the honey-coloured classical façades; in an era before the advent of the luxury hotel, these apparently elegant residences were frequently purpose-built lodging houses, where visitors could hire a room, a floor, or (according to their means) an entire house for the duration of their visit, and be waited on by the house's communal servants. An era is a commonly used word for long period of time When used in science for example geology eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging usually on a short-term basis A domestic worker, domestic, servingman, servingwoman, or servant is one who works and often also lives within the employer's household ^[93]

"The Circus" consists of three long, curved terraces designed by the elder John Wood to form a circular space or theatre intended for civic functions and games. The Circus is a famous example of Georgian architecture in the city of Bath, begun in 1754 and completed in 1768. John Wood ( 1704 - May 23, 1754, Bath) also named Wood of Bath, was an English Architect. The games give a clue to the design, the inspiration behind which was the Colosseum in Rome. The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre ( Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 ^[94] Like the Colosseum, the three façades have a different order of architecture on each floor: Doric on the ground level, then Ionic on the piano nobile and finishing with Corinthian on the upper floor, the style of the building thus becoming progressively more ornate as it rises. The Doric order was one of the three '''orders''' or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or Classical architecture; the other two Canonical The Ionic order column forms one of the three '''orders''' or '''organizational systems''' of Classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the The piano nobile is the principal Floor of a large House, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture. The Corinthian order is one of the Classical orders of Greek and Roman Architecture, characterized ^[94] Wood never lived to see his unique example of town planning completed, as he died five days after personally laying the foundation stone on May 18, 1754. Events 1152 - Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. Year 1754 ( MDCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or ^[94]

Fan vaulting over the nave at Bath Abbey, Bath, England. A fan vault is a form of vault used in the Perpendicular Gothic style in which the ribs are all of the same curve and spaced equidistantly in a manner resembling In Romanesque and Gothic Christian Abbey, Cathedral Basilica and church Architecture, the nave is the The Abbey Church of Saint Peter Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican Parish church and a former Benedictine Monastery Made from local Bath stone, this is a Victorian restoration (made in the 1860s) of the original roof from 1608

The best known of Bath's terraces is the Royal Crescent, built between 1767 and 1774 and designed by the younger John Wood. The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. John Wood the Younger ( February 25, 1728, Bath - June 18, 1782, Batheaston) was an English Architect ^[95] But all is not what it seems; while Wood designed the great curved façade of what appears to be about 30 houses with Ionic columns on a rusticated ground floor, that was the extent of his input. A column in Structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural Each purchaser bought a certain length of the façade, and then employed their own architect to build a house to their own specifications behind it; hence what appears to be two houses is sometimes one. This system of town planning is betrayed at the rear of the crescent: while the front is completely uniform and symmetrical, the rear is a mixture of differing roof heights, juxtapositions and fenestration. ^[96] This "Queen Anne fronts and Mary-Anne backs" architecture occurs repeatedly in Bath. ^[97]

Around 1770 the neoclassical architect Robert Adam designed Pulteney Bridge, using as the prototype for the three-arched bridge spanning the Avon an original, but unused, design by Palladio for the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and Robert Adam ( 3 July 1728 &ndash 3 March 1792) was a Scottish neoclassical Architect, Interior designer Pulteney Bridge is a Bridge that crosses the River Avon, in Bath, England and completed in 1773. Andrea Palladio ( November 30, 1508 – August 19, 1580) was an Italian Architect, widely considered the most influential The Rialto Bridge ( Ponte di Rialto) is one of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the ^[98] Thus, Pulteney Bridge became not just a means of crossing the river, but also a shopping arcade. Along with the Rialto Bridge, is one of the very few surviving bridges in Europe to serve this dual purpose. ^[98] It has been substantially altered since it was built. The bridge was named after Frances and William Pulteney, the owners of the Bathwick estate for which the bridge provided a link to the rest of Bath. Sir William Pulteney 5th Baronet (October 1729 &ndash 30 May 1805) was an eminent Scottish Lawyer, Member of Parliament, and at ^[98]

The heart of the Georgian city was the Pump Room, which, together with its associated Lower Assembly Rooms, was designed by Thomas Baldwin, a local builder who was responsible for many other buildings in the city, including the terraces in Argyle Street. Thomas Baldwin (c1750 &ndash 7 March 1820) was an English surveyor and Architect in Bath. ^[99] Baldwin rose rapidly, becoming a leader in Bath's architectural history. In 1776 he was made the chief City Surveyor, and in 1780 became Bath City Architect. The prominent post of Bath City Architect and Surveyor was bestowed by the Corporation of Bath on an architect who would be repeatedly chosen for civic projects The prominent post of Bath City Architect was bestowed by the Corporation of Bath on an architect who would be repeatedly chosen for civic projects ^[99] Great Pulteney Street, where he eventually lived, is another of his works: this wide boulevard, constructed circa 1789 and over 1,000 feet (305 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide, is lined on both sides by Georgian terraces. Great Pulteney Street is a grand boulevard that that joins Pulteney Bridge to the eastern side of Bath Boulevard ( French, from Bolwerk &ndash bolwark meaning bastion has several generally accepted meanings

In the 1960s and early 1970s some parts of Bath were unsympathetically redeveloped, resulting in the loss of some 18th- and 19th-century buildings. This process was largely halted by a popular campaign which drew strength from the publication of Adam Fergusson's The Sack of Bath. ^[100]

A panoramic view of the Royal Crescent

Education

Bath has two universities. A university is an institution of Higher education and Research, which grants Academic degrees in a variety of subjects The University of Bath was established in 1966 and has grown to become a leading university in the United Kingdom. The University of Bath is a Campus university located in Bath, England. ^[101] The university is known, academically, for the physical sciences, mathematics, architecture, management and technology. ^[102]

Bath Spa University was first granted degree-awarding powers in 1992 as a university college (Bath Spa University College), before being granted university status in August 2005. Bath Spa University is a University based in and around Bath, England. The term " university college " is used in a number of countries to denote institutions that provide Tertiary education but do not have full or independent A university is an institution of Higher education and Research, which grants Academic degrees in a variety of subjects ^[103] It has schools in the following subject areas: Art and Design, Education, English and Creative Studies, Historical and Cultural Studies, Music and the Performing Arts, and Social Sciences. ^[103] It also awards degrees through colleges such as Weston College in nearby Weston-super-Mare. Weston College is a Further education College situated in Weston-super-Mare, England. Weston-super-Mare is a Seaside resort town and Civil parish in North Somerset, England.

The city contains one further education college, City of Bath College, and several sixth forms as part of both state, private, and public schools. Further education (often abbreviated "FE" is Post-secondary Education (in addition to that received at Secondary school) that is distinct from City of Bath College is a Further education college in the centre of Bath England. The sixth form, in the English, Welsh and Northern Irish education systems Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Belize State school is an expression used in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to distinguish schools provided by the government from privately For the film of this title see Private School (film. Private schools, or Independent schools are Schools not administered An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school relying upon private sources for all of its funding predominantly in the form of school fees In England, on average in 2006, 45. 8% of pupils gained 5 grades A*-C including English and Maths; for Bath and North East Somerset pupils taking GCSE at 16 it is 52. 0%. ^[104] Special needs education is provided by Three Ways School. Three Ways School is a Special school in Odd Down Bath, England.

Media

Bath has two main local newspapers, the Bath Chronicle and the Bath Times. Beechen Cliff School is a boys` Secondary school in Bath Somerset, in England. Culverhay School is a boys secondary school situated at Rush Hill Odd Down in Bath, England. Hayesfield School Technology College is a girls Secondary school, with a Co-educational sixth form in Bath, England. Oldfield School is a girls Secondary school, with a small Co-educational Sixth form, in Newbridge, Bath, England. Ralph Allen School in Combe Down, Bath, England is a non-denominational co-educational school for 11-18 year olds St Gregory's Catholic College in Odd Down, Bath, England is a Catholic, co-educational school without a sixth form King Edward's School (KES Bath in South-West England is an Independent School providing education for pupils aged 3 - 18 Kingswood School is a Coeducational, public day and boarding school in Bath, Somerset, England. Overview Originally intended to be England's first Catholic university Prior Park College was founded in 1830 and since then has been a Roman Catholic school Royal High School Bath Headmaster Monkton Combe School is an independent Christian mixed boarding and day school near Bath, England. The Bath Chronicle is a weekly newspaper published since 1760 in Bath, England. The Bath Times is a weekly free newspaper published in Somerset, England, with three editions covering Bath, Midsomer Norton, Radstock The Bath Chronicle, published since 1760, was a daily newspaper until mid-September 2007 when it became a weekly. ^[106] The Bath Times is a free weekly newspaper, largely based around advertising. Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand Both newspapers are owned by Northcliffe Media. Northcliffe Media (formerly Northcliffe Newspapers Group) is a large regional newspaper publisher in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe owned by the Daily Mail and General

The BBC's Where I Live website for Somerset has featured coverage of news and events within Bath since 2003. ^[107]

For television, Bath is served by the BBC West studios based in Bristol, and by ITV West (formerly HTV) with studios similarly in Bristol. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales and West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England.

Radio stations broadcasting to the city include Bath's GWR FM and the more locally-focused Bath FM, as well as The University of Bath's 1449AM URB, a student-focused radio on campus and also available online,^[108] and Classic Gold 1260 a networked commercial radio station with local programmes. GWR FM is a UK radio station that serves Bath. It broadcasts on 103 FM on DAB Digital radio and online. Bath FM is a local Radio station based at the former Weston (Bath railway station in Bath England. For the local Swindon radio station of a similar name see Brunel FM Gold is a regional AM station in the west of England

See also

• List of notable Bathonians
• List of spa towns in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Official tourist information
• Virtual tour of Bath
• Bath at the Open Directory Project
• Bath travel guide from Wikitravel